United nations

History of United Nations with Reference to League Of Nations

• The League of Nations was to be based in Geneva, Switzerland. This was formed after World War I. But, this was failed. After, the World war II an organisation named United Nations was formed. It has many organs and agencies. Some of its Agencies were taken from League Of Nations agencies and organs.

The Aims of the United Nations

• • To keep peace throughout the world. •To develop friendly relations between nations. •To work together to help the people to live better lives, to eliminate poverty, disease and illiteracy in the world, to stop environmental destruction and to encourage respect for each other's rights and freedoms. •To be a centre for helping nations achieve these aims.

The Principles of the United Nations:

•• All Member States should have sovereign equality. •All Member States must obey the Charter. •Countries must try to settle their differences by peaceful means. •Countries must avoid using force or threatening to use force. •The UN may not interfere in the domestic affairs of any country. •Countries should try to assist only the United Nations.

Organs of United Nations

• There are 6 organs of United Nations.

• They are :-1. General Assembly2. Security Council3. Economic and Social Council4. Trusteeship Council5. International Court of Justice

( World Court) 6. Secretariat

The Security Council• The Security is the most powerful organ is

the most powerful organ of UN. It is responsible for maintaining peace and security in the world. It has a limited membership. It is comprised of 15 members out of which five members are the permanent members and the remaining ten which are elected by the general assembly are non permanent. The five permanent members are USA, UK, Russia ,China and France.

Trusteeship Council

• It was set up to ensure the administration and development of those areas of the world which were not able to govern themselves. Eleven such territories were bought under the trust of the council. All such territories are now either independent of have joined other countries .Since there is no trust territory to be administered now, it ceases to play any important role.

International Court of Justice

• It is the Principal Judicial Organ of the United Nations. It is located at Hague, in the Netherlands. Popularly, it is known as World Court, it comprises of 15 Judges who are elected by the General Assembly and the Security Council for a term of nine years. The Judges are chosen on the basis of their expertise in International Law. There can’t be two judges from the same country at the same time. Only the member states can bring cases before this court and not the private individuals.

Secretariat• It is headed by the Secretary General. It serves the

needs of various organs of UN as well as the representatives of the member countries. It’s staff is from the various countries. There are about 50,000 employees from about 170 nations. The staff is accountable only to the United Nations and not to any particular member country. Since the inception of UN there have been eight secretary generals including the present one. Ban-ki-moon is the present Secretary General of the UN.

Agencies of United Nations

• There are approximately 60 agencies of United Nations. Some of them are given below :-

1. International Labour Organization (ILO)

2. United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF)

3. United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)

4. United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)

United Nations High Commissioner for Refuges (UNHCR)

United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO)

United Nations Joint Programme on (UN AIDS)

Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR)

United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC)

10.United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)

11.United Nations Volunteers (UNV)

12. United Nations Women Fund (UNIFEM)

13. World Food Programme (WFP)

14.World Health Organization (WHO)

15.Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO)

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)

International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO)

International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD)

International Maritime Organization (IMO)

International Monetary Fund (IMF)

International Telecommunication Union (ITU)

Universal Postal Union (UPU)

World Bank (WB)

World Food Programme (WFP)

World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO)

World Meteorological Organization (WMO)

World Tourism Organization (UNWTO)

Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW)

United Nations Democracy Fund (UNDEF)

United Nations Fund for International Partnerships (UNFIP)

United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD).

United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

Special Court for Sierra Leone (SCSL).

United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD)

United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL)

United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC)

United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)

United Nations Fund for International Partnerships (UNFIP)

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)

United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN–HABITAT)

United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR)

Operational Satellite Applications Programme (UNOSAT).

United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).

Universal Postal Union (UPU).

Secretary General Ban Ki-moon

• Ban Ki-moon ( was born on 13 June, 1944 ) is the eighth and current Secretary-General of the United Nations, after succeeding Kofi Annan in 2007. Ban was the Foreign Minister of the Republic of Korea from January 2004 to November 2006. On 13 October 2006, he was elected to be the eighth Secretary-General by the United Nations General Assembly. On 1 January 2007, he successfully succeeded Annan, and led several major reforms regarding peacekeeping and UN employment practices. He became the first South Korean to run for the office.